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Harnessing Foreign Policy for a New India

Staff Reporter
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Harnessing Foreign Policy for a New India

As India celebrates 75 years of independence and the Modi government completes eight years at the helm, the world is looking at the country of 1.4 billion anew as an emblem of hope, resilience and resurgence.Transformational diplomacy pragmatic and visionary at the same time has played a pivotal role in India’s ongoing global ascent, opening new avenues for prosperity and well-being of its citizens.
With the overarching strategic objective of making India a great power and its people prosperous, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led India’s diplomatic outreach from the front. Shedding years of risk-aversion, under his watch, Indian diplomacy has become innovative, courageous, and nimble-footed, enabling India to navigate its own emergence on its own terms. This out-of-the-box approach was evident from Day 1 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, armed with the largest mandate in a quarter century, took charge of the country on May 26, 2014. Showcasing its Neighbourhood First diplomacy, the leaders of all neighbouring countries and Mauritius were invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister. The primacy on neighbouhood was also exemplified by the choice of Bhutan as the first overseas destination of PM Modi. Over the next few years, PM Modi has visited all SAARC countries sans Pakistan which has stubbornly rejected India’s overtures for peace by refusing to end cross-border terror.
Diplomatic Outreach
The last eight years saw an unprecedented diplomatic outreach with a record number of high-level incoming and outgoing visits. Reaching out to countries big and small on the side-lines of the UNGA, PM Modi met the leaders of big countries as well as island nations such as St Vincent and Grenadines. Several countries saw the first-ever high-level visits from India at the level of Heads of State/Heads of Government. In sync with its rising global profile, India hosted the first-ever summit of the International Solar Alliance, the first summit with the leaders of Pacific Island states and the largest ever gathering of African leaders on the Indian soil.
The focused and systematic upgrade and transformation of India’s relations with the Gulf countries is widely seen as among major foreign policy achievements of the Modi government. PM Modi has deftly steered diplomatic outreach to the energy-rich region, forging robust security and counter-terror cooperation with key players in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Another major achievement of the NDA government was the upgrade of Look East to Act East policy, which signified accelerated result-driven engagement with the strategically located region. The India-ASEAN commemorative summit in 2018 was a milestone that brought the leaders of all ASEAN countries to India for the first time as chief guests at the Republic Day celebrations.
Diplomacy for Development
Undistracted by power games, India fused diplomacy with national development and resurgence, leading to foreign collaborations and financial support for flagship schemes of national renaissance, including Make in India, Skill India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Namami Gange and Start-up India. Enhanced engagement with India’s external partners has brought visible benefits to people through foreign investment and technology tie-ups, leading to the setting up of factories and creation of jobs. Forging of green energy partnerships with countries like the US, France and Denmark has set the stage for clean low-carbon life for citizens of India.
Moulding the Global Agenda
The recalibration of India’s foreign policy in tune with the emerging world order has led to an increasing recognition of India’s indispensability to addressing diverse cross-cutting challenges, ranging from combating terrorism, global warming, piracy and pandemics to reshaping of global governance architecture. Instead of being reactive, India proactively set the global agenda and played a constructive role in key multilateral platforms such as the UN, the G20 and the COP 26. The country’s rising global stature is clearly reflected in its ongoing tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC on January 1, 2021. India’s presidency of UNSC for the month of August 2021 was marked by pioneering initiatives and its focus on effective multilateralism. Under New Delhi’s presidency, a strong resolution was adopted on the situation in Afghanistan, which demanded that the Afghan territory not be used to threaten any country or shelter terrorists. The highlight of the month-long presidency was a high-level signature event on maritime security presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first time the Prime Minister of India chaired the Security Council. The finesse with which India has steered global issues during its UNSC tenure has buttressed its credentials for acquiring a permanent seat in UN Security Council. On terrorism, India pursued the policy of zero tolerance and forged counter-terror coalitions. National security issues moved centre-stage to India’s diplomatic outreach, with India showing decisiveness and boldness in addressing Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism hands-on through offensive surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads in the Pakistani territory.
Free & Open Indo-Pacific
In view of emerging geopolitical equations, India has minted its unique brand of multi-alignment to grapple with an increasingly multipolar world which underlines the country’s growing confidence in harnessing ties with mutually antagonistic power centres without getting sucked into zero sum games.
This approach was crystallized in PM Modi’s vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific at the Shangri La Dialogue in June 2018. In his speech, PM Modi underlined the centrality of ASEAN to the new Indo-Pacific and rejected any attempt to portray the Indo-Pacific Region as a club of limited members. In sync with this vision, New Delhi played a constructive role in bolstering the Quad grouping comprising India, US, Japan and Australia and in shaping outcomes of the two Quad summits held so far. In yet another sign of nimble-footed diplomacy, New Delhi has joined a new Quad comprising India, Israel, UAE and US, which is focused on enhancing economic cooperation in West Asia.
There are many other achievements in the realm of foreign policy the NDA government can take justifiable pride in. India has been admitted as a member of top global atomic export regimes, including Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Wassenaar Agreement and the Australia Group. Signalling India’s rising regional profile, India was admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at the SCO summit in Astana in June 2017. Now, in a unique move, PM Modi will be holding a digital summit with the leaders of the five Central Asian countries on January 27, which could prove to have a force multiplier effect on India’s relations with the resource-rich region.
A Bouquet of Hope
Looking ahead, many more milestones await India in an emerging world order. As the world grapples with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and its new variants, India has exhibited unique strength and resilience as it has not only vaccinated nearly a billion Indians, but has also provided vaccines and other medical support to over 100 countries around the world under the “Vaccine Maitri” initiative. In his recent address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, PM Modi underlined India’s unique strengths as an emerging country of great potential and provider of global public goods. “A strong democracy like India has gifted the whole world a beautiful gift, a bouquet of hope. In this bouquet, we Indians have an unwavering trust on democracy; this bouquet has the technology that will empower the 21st century; and it also has temperament and the talent of us Indians. The multi-lingual, multi-cultural environment in which we Indians live is a great power not only of India but of the whole world.” The world will be watching closely how this bouquet of hope provides new energy to a conflicted world.

(Manish Chand is Founder-President of India Writes Network and Centre for Global India Insights, a think tank focused on global affairs.)

Ethiopia has succeeded to commence 35th AU Heads of States summit in Addis Ababa

Staff Reporter
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Ethiopia has succeeded to commence 35th AU Heads of States summit in Addis Ababa

Ethiopia has succeeded in ensuring that the 35th AU Heads of States & Government Summit to be held in Addis Ababa, 5th – 6th of February, 2022.
Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokes Person Ambassador Dina Mufti commended the unwavering solidarity of Africans shown to Ethiopia on various occasions after a consultative meeting of African Ambassadors and diplomats on hosting the 35th AU Summit in Addis Ababa.
Some countries tried to relocate the summit in to another country that this year AU Summit not to be held in Ethiopia due to their own selfish interest.
The attempts by some actors to relocate AU summit somewhere else out of Ethiopia has completely failed and almost all African Heads of States have given approval to be conducted in its Headquarters’ office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
All regional blocks and bodies of chair persons and Heads of States have given their blessing that Ethiopia to succeed in ensuring the summit to be conducted in Addis Ababa.
Among the Heads of States President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, President Yoweri Museveni of the Republic of Uganda and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria were on the front line.
Ethiopian PM Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali has released a statement about upcoming Heads of State Summit of AU. Some forces and actors interested on work against Ethiopia on the upcoming AU submit to be held somewhere else out of Ethiopia has lost the vote.
PM. Dr. Abiy Ahmed welcomed African leaders due to attend this summit, he has thanked African countries African People for supporting Ethiopian, and he is calling Ethiopian people to welcome guest from across Africa and to show the guests with a spirit of solidarity in a warm manner.
This 35th Au Summit, which will be commence on 5th of February, 2022, will run until the 6th of February, 2022. Comprising statutory meetings and side events, the summit is being held under the African Union team for the year 2022.
“The first statutory meeting of the summit was that of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), which was held from the 20th to 21st of January 2022. The outcomes of the PRC deliberations will be considered by the Executive Council, whose meetings are scheduled to run from the 2nd to 3rd February, 2022.
The Executive Council are charged with preparing the documents and drafting the decisions and declarations that will be considered by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, who will meet from the 5th to 6th February, 2022.
Peace and Security Council one of top body in AU with fifteen member’s body, and its members will be elected in upcoming meeting, 10 members for two years term and 5 members for 3 years term will be elected and Senegal will chair the upcoming summit.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has welcomed the decision of the African Union (AU) member states to convene the 35th AU Summit in person in Addis Ababa.
In a statement, Prime Minister Abiy acknowledged the leaders’ commitment and decision to hold the 35th AU summit in Addis Ababa despite attempts to change the meeting venue from Addis Ababa to somewhere else.
“Ethiopia is saddened by the action of those who have been pushing for the AU summit to be held out of Addis Ababa citing Covid-19 spread and security situations as pretexts,” the PM Dr. Abiy said.
PM Abiy has recalled Ethiopia’s contribution to the African issues and reassured continued commitment to the African affairs and Pan-Africanism.
Ethiopia has never taken the issue of Africanism as secondary, but as priority, he said, adding that the place it gives to Pan-Africanism is always significant and remains the same.
Recognizing Ethiopia’s historic and unwavering stance to advance African and pan-African agendas as well as the significance of the AU summit, Prime Minister Abiy stated that the African leaders have chosen Addis Ababa to host the summit.
“The implication of hosting the summit in Addis Ababa is immense,” Dr. Abiy said. “It proves our peace and stability as well as enables us to reaffirm our stance to African Agenda and practically demonstrate the good situations of Ethiopia to our African friends,” the PM Dr. Abiy added.
The government has been undertaking diplomatic efforts with African countries and the AU Commission to hold the summit in the capital city, according to Ethiopia.

ACCELERATING ECOSYSTEM COLLAPSE

Staff Reporter
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ACCELERATING ECOSYSTEM COLLAPSE

Climate change is threatening life as we know it, but our simpleminded global status quo is not willing to fully appreciate this obvious danger. Don’t expect decisive action to come from the states or the market, as they are not very much into life. For over a half a century concerned citizens, scientists, activist intellectuals, etc., have been warning the world about our species’ unsustainable trajectory. Ever since the Club of Rome published ‘Limit to growth’ in 1973, many enlightened inhabitants tried to convince dominant capital to rethink its blind ambition of incessant accumulation that was becoming increasingly detrimental to all lives on the planet. However, those that are completely subservient to monopoly capital (states & corporations) refused to heed the warning and now consequences are obliterating our ecosystem!
The state of our environment, including climate change, is so bad we have absolutely no time to waste, if we want life to be around at least for a while longer. The current stupid ways of humans are unsustainable. Worshipping at the altar of greed has not been our time tested collective instinct, which allowed us to survive up to now. For a start, we have to negate the global economic doctrine that preaches non-stop growth on a finite planet. Without a doubt, this economic principle is the epitome of stupidity, but the sheeple (human mass), out of fear/insecurity, ignorance, etc., doesn’t want to seriously interrogate this lunatic principle perpetuated by the learned psychopaths/sociopaths of our world system. Paradoxically, those countries with the most scientific knowledge about the collapse of our ecosystem do not want to be bothered at all, at least as far as their states and their dominant capital is concerned. These cretins think profit is more important than the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat or in general the whole life support system. There is no limit to how far they are willing to push their sickening agenda. To defend their insatiable greed they are now questioning the very science on which facts about climate change are based. The only science they believe in is the one that makes them money, whatever the cost to life. Luckily there is now an organized movement in the making (by scientist themselves), to oppose the prevailing stupid narrative.
Boycotting unnecessary consumption should be the primary objective of all who would want to address climate change and other critical environmental issues in earnest. Reducing each and everyone’s carbon footprint is a task that can be executed by many a concerned citizen of our finite and precarious planet. ‘Charity begins at home’ and the import of this old saying suggests; one has to start by reducing one’s own consumption to reduce one’s carbon footprint. Unlike the consumer societies of the rich (OECD), the poorer nations still have some opening to carve out a more sustainable and resilient future. They can leverage appropriate, sustainable and resilient technologies to address their development problematic. The West or the rich countries need to cut down on their unnecessary consumption, which doesn’t seem to bring them any closer to contentment let alone to self-actualization. Even if their politicos, at the service of dominant capital, refuse to enact enforceable binding laws to curtail emissions, the people should take it upon themselves to locally forbid certain activities from taking place that are bound to impact their environment. In other words, when it comes to life preservation, i.e., protecting the planet’s ecosystem, forceful ‘civil disobedience’ should be encouraged!
Severe and frequent droughts across our continent might well be our future, affecting hundreds of millions of Africans. Currently the Horn/Eastern and Southern Africa are experiencing lingering droughts that threaten to become a permanent feature of the region. The phony and unachievable goal of making the planet warmer by only 2 degrees or less (by the end of the century) is pure fantasy. Scientific predictions, not the ones emasculated by the politicos of the world system, conclude; temperature increase of five or even six degrees is a more realistic scenario, given the unpredictability of complex systems as well as our intransigence to deal with the crisis. In the temperature prediction game, we are always talking about average increases. The implication being, the tropical regions will have even higher temperature than the rest of the world, read Africa! Doing nothing is not an option in regard to climate change; hence the African sheeple must organize itself outside the logic of the state and the market to save itself. Even science has now become a plaything to the degenerate politicos and their affiliated selfish oligarchs. Abiding by their stupid laws of destruction in passé!

Local use coffee surges on ECX

Muluken Yewondwossen
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Local use coffee surges on ECX

The trading of local use coffee surges at the trading floor of Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) against the past experience to which experts stated that it is an unequivocal indication for the commodity coming from major producing areas preferring to use an alternative market.
It is to be recalled that Capital reported that the regional administration of Oromia took a direction to trade export coffee on an alternative market place as opposed to the electronic trading floor.
Information that Capital obtained from sources in the trading floor and coffee experts including exporters, signaled that the trading of local use coffee flourished in the first half of the trading year and sat at the top in terms of trading volume and value.
Coffee sector experts said that the in the previous circumstance the export coffee took the leading position in volume similar to value.
They said that the information they secured from the trading floor indicated that the product that came from Oromia is mainly traded in the vertical integration market that the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA) introduced about two years ago as an alternative the trading market to ECX.
On its first half year performance evaluation for the 2021/22 budget year, ECTA has also applauded the success secured from the vertical integration.
During the half year evaluation meeting, Adugna Debela, Director General of ECTA, said that the vertical integration created conducive environment to sale the bean with in short period of time and better product quality.
Recently, Adugna told Capital that to amass huge success on the export earnings and export volume the role of alternative market was crucial.
In the first half of the budget year the hard currency earnings from coffee, which is the major source of foreign currency from commodity trading, has climbed by 90 percent compared with the same period of the 2020/21 budget year.
In the first six months of the budget year that ended in the third week of December 2021, the coffee export contributed to earn USD 578 million which was USD 304 million a year ago.
Similarly the volume has also increased by about 63 percent compared with the same period of the preceding year. In the first six months of the budget year over 148,000 tones of coffee has been exported showing increment of 57,000 tones from the export of the past year similar period.
According to the information from experts in the sector in the first six months of the budget year the volume of export coffee that traded at ECX has dropped by more than half compared with the same period of last year.
Sources said that from the total coffee trading at ECX, the volume and value of local coffee took the major share by more than half, “it is unusual in the past experience.”
They said that most of the export commodity particularly comes from Oromia, which is the major source of the bean is traded through vertical integration that directly connects farmers or suppliers to export traders.
They said in the first six months of the budget year the total trading volume of export coffee at ECX has dropped by not less than 80 percent that has also reflected by value, which experts estimated to decrease by about 70 percent.
“The value reduction shall not be similar with the volume due to the price increment of coffee in the international market,” they explained why the trading value shall not equally reduce in the stated period.
In the first half of the 2020/21 budget year the export coffee trading volume at ECX was over 60 thousand metric tons, while this year exact figure is so far not disclosed by the exchange. However, experts estimated that that it would not be more than 15 thousand metric tons.
A week ago Capital reported that the price of export coffee at ECX has increased at least by three forth compared with the same period of last year.
The price of specialty, which is usually very small compared with commercial export coffee volume but has big difference in terms of price, and local coffee has also surged.
Sources indicated that the regional administration in Oromia insist coffee traders to supply the bean directly to exporters rather than selling through ECX. The decision mainly was applied since the new products mainly started to harvest from October of last year up to the coming month, while slight portion of the commodity is still sold through ECX. Meanwhile the volume of specialty coffee that traded at ECX has shown reduction in the first half of the year but that is incomparable with the percent of export coffee.

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